“We are players, but do not direct the play. Crucial decisions were made for us, before we were born. …Even the decisions we make for ourselves seldom take us where we meant to go.”
Barbara Brown Taylor – An Altar in the World

Yet we still choose to set out afresh. Hope – hope of transformation – of our lives, ourselves, our world, pushes us on to dare to take another step.

This piece is in reaction to the self-help movement that likes to believe that we have greater control of our lives than we actually do. Yet, one does not choose our place of birth, parents, and circumstances. To be born in Nepal, or Vanuatu or Yemen would make a big difference to one’s life journey.

As we set out along our chosen path, only ever able to see a small way ahead, don’t despair about falling off and getting wet or ending up elsewhere. Embrace the journey, adapt to the changes and just maybe that hoped for transformation will take place.